Davooda wrote:I was surprised to find, upon moving here some 29 years ago, there are two Del Carmen's (West and East) Pizza joints that are separately owned yet both offer a "double crust" pizza - something I hadn't seen growing up in Glendale Heights and then St. Charles. They are both excellent, thought the East location sauce is more sweet while the West location is more peppery.

In addition, The Pizza Factory (in South Shores) also offers a double crust that we usually order with extra sauce - also an excellent pie! Count me a fan of the "doubledecker" or "double crust" 'za!

Ok, just to make sure we're on the same page - when they say double crust it's not a thicker dough, but two thin crust pizzas more or less on top of each other (usually with a big rolled edge from underneath)? Another way of saying double decker could be "stuffed pizza lite." I have to check out Judy's version as their thin crust is paper thin. I doubt it will be a big deal for me as I rarely ever get double decker, but for the sake of the thread, I'm keeping the discussion going.

Ok, no more double decker pizza for me! I ordered one from Judy's last night, had a couple of slices at the restaurant (while fresh) and then later at home. The pizza was a bland, mushy mess with rubbery dry cheese. I think with double decker pizza (at Bill's or Buffo's), I often forget how mediocre it was the last time I had one, then I order it again thinking maybe I liked it, and the cycle continues . As for Judy's itself, they do make a decent thin crust, but I only get it when I want to get something other than Malnati's or Barnaby's by my house (which is almost never).

Ram4 wrote:Ok, no more double decker pizza for me! I ordered one from Judy's last night, had a couple of slices at the restaurant (while fresh) and then later at home. The pizza was a bland, mushy mess with rubbery dry cheese. I think with double decker pizza (at Bill's or Buffo's), I often forget how mediocre it was the last time I had one, then I order it again thinking maybe I liked it, and the cycle continues . As for Judy's itself, they do make a decent thin crust, but I only get it when I want to get something other than Malnati's or Barnaby's by my house (which is almost never).

Not that I'm a big fan of double-decker pizzas but I think the problem here has more to do the purveyor than the configuration. This really isn't good pizza. Twice as much of it -- stacked one atop another -- could, at the very best, be twice as bad as it usually is. And that's an optimistic prognosis.

=R=

Sausage Crust Pizza: Secret Menu Item at Lou Malnati’s

Last week I stopped in for lunch at Lou Malnati’s and had a personal deep dish pizza, a Chicago Classic, which is basically cheese, chopped tomatoes and sausage on Lou’s trademarked Buttercrust.

I liked it fine – in fact, it really hit the spot – and I posted a picture of the pizza on Facebook.

There are a lot of Lou Malnati fans out there, and one of the people who responded to the Facebook picture of my pizza was a friend of mine, also named Lou. I greatly respect Lou’s opinion, and he posted that the “sausage crust” Malnati’s pizza was “like magic.”

I had never heard of such a thing, so I called the Oak Park Lou Malnati’s and was informed that the pizza with a sausage crust is actually what they call the “crustless” pizza, but it’s not on the menu. It’s intended for those who are trying to cut down or cut out the gluten in their diet.

I stopped by Malnati’s to pick up a “crustless pizza,” and here’s what that is: it’s the regular cheese and chopped tomatoes with choice of toppings (we went with spinach and mushrooms), all set on a disk of sausage about one-quarter inch thick.

“Do people ever order sausage on their crustless pizza” I asked the guy who took my order.

“Oh, sure, lots of people have sausage on their sausage crust pizza,” he replied, which kind of amazes me.



If I were gluten-free, I would definitely consider getting another crustless/sausage crust pizza, but man, this was one dense high-protein belly bomb. I had 1.5 slices and I was full for the next 12 hours.

My daughter, Josie, commented that the crustless/sausage pizza would have been better “on a slice of bread,” which really underscored for me the importance of crust. Malnati’s Buttercrust is maybe best part of the pie. I like the cheese and tomatoes, and the sausage crumbles are okay (a little under-seasoned for me), but it’s that crust that provides balance not only to the flavors but to the textures, adding crispness to play against the gooiness. Without the crust, everything kind of dissolves into a tasty mess; with the crust, it’s a composition.

Damn you Hammond.
Now I have to try it.

zoid wrote:Damn you Hammond.
Now I have to try it.

They used to market this same configuration for Atkins followers. Nice to see them recycling it.

=R=

That sounds really disgusting and yet somehow I have to try it.

How did the leftovers taste reheated?

midas wrote:How did the leftovers taste reheated?

Leftovers better and here's why: baked it, and the pan helped crisp up the sausage crust, which gave it texture, made it better.

Zoid, Joe, just so you know, I wasn't exactly endorsing the crustless pizza. Honestly, more down than upside.

David Hammond wrote:

midas wrote:How did the leftovers taste reheated?

Leftovers better and here's why: baked it, and the pan helped crisp up the sausage crust, which gave it texture, made it better.

Zoid, Joe, just so you know, I wasn't exactly endorsing the crustless pizza. Honestly, more down than upside.

Yeah I know, but now it's stuck in my head, kinda like when you were a kid and you were told never to look directly at the sun and then it seemed like you just HAD to try it...you know it's gonna hurt but your curiosity is just killing you...

The crustless pizza at Lou Malnati's has actually been around now for a few years, and it has become quite popular with the gluten free crowd. When it comes to Lou's sausage, it's a garlic sausage recipe from Peoria Meat Packing that they have been using for many years. It's very similar to the garlic sausage recipe originally used (and still used) by Lou's father, Rudy, Sr., at Pizzeria Uno. Rudy, Sr. always had his delivered from Anichini Brothers, and Uno's/Due still uses Anichini Brothers today for their garlic sausage. Lou's garlic sausage from Peoria Meat Packing contains a little bit of cracked black pepper, some salt, and a lot of garlic. That's it. It's also 90% lean, and there's no fennel what-so-ever. I've always enjoyed Lou's sausage recipe very much, along with the garlic sausage recipe at Uno's/Due.

If you get the chance, try dipping each forkful of Lou Malnati's sausage pizza with buttercrust with a pint of Lou's signature/housemade creamy lemon garlic dressing. It's a flavor explosion that fully brings out the flavors in both Lou's sausage and his vine ripened tomato recipe. It especially brings out the flavors in Lou's tomato sauce. Long time Lou's fans have been dipping their pizza into the creamy lemon garlic for entire decades. The next time you're at Lou's, take a look around at the tables around you, and you will see regular Lou Malnati's patrons doing this. It's truly decadent, and it's just something you flat out cannot do at Uno's/Due, Pizano's, Gino's East, Burt's Place, Louisa's, or anywhere else for that matter.

I grew up on Pizzeria Due, and I still enjoy it very much from time to time. I was also lucky enough to be at Uno's 70th Birthday party a couple December's ago. However, Lou's sausage buttercrust pizza with the creamy lemon garlic dressing for dipping is pizza harmony on a whole another level of greatness.

Good Eating As Always,

deepdish

This whole thing makes me want stuffed pizza. I doubt I have had it in at least 5 years.

Me too.

deepdish wrote:Lou's garlic sausage from Peoria Meat Packing contains a little bit of cracked black pepper, some salt, and a lot of garlic. That's it. It's also 90% lean, and there's no fennel what-so-ever.

If you get the chance, try dipping each forkful of Lou Malnati's sausage pizza with buttercrust with a pint of Lou's signature/housemade creamy lemon garlic dressing.

I can't say I'm a fan of the sausage: seemed very underseasoned to me; could not detect much garlic; and the lack of fat didn't improve the flavor profile. Also, the sausage crust is rather thick (my daughter actually decided to eat her pizza without the sausage crust, saying sadly, "A lot of animal is being wasted here"). I'm also a fennel fan, so I guess this sausage is just not for me.

Thanks for the tip about creamy lemon garlic dressing. I'm going to be eating at Malnati's again within next 30 days, so I'll give that dressing a shot.

Whenever I am looking for Italian sausage, now that no critter will be killed for said sausage, I always add crushed red peppers and fennel to the analogue.

@David Hammond: The garlic sausage at Lou Malnati's is probably just not your thing. Hopefully, you'll enjoy dipping each forkful of goodness into their housemade creamy lemon garlic dressing, though. Lou's is trying something new at their full service restaurants (excluding the Lawndale location)- antibiotic-free chicken and turkey sausage. It's supposedly similar to their garlic sausage recipe, but I've yet to try it, so I have no idea how it tastes.

This new "poultry sausage" is not yet available at their carry out locations or their Lincoln Park or Evanston locations, but it will coming soon to all those locations as well.